Apple raises prices for App Store in Canada

Canada joins six other markets (Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, and South Africa) that will have Apple App Store prices raised. The price hike will include in-app purchases. For Canada, Tier 1 pricing will go up from $1.19 to $1.39, which means a $1 app in the U.S. App Store will cost $1.39 on the Canadian App Store. The price change is said to be in line with the fluctuating foreign currency exchange rates against the US dollar. Apple also plans to expand its low-price tiers Alternate Tier A and Alternate Tier B to Canada, these are valued at 99 cents in local dollars and said to be used for smaller in-app purchases.

If you have in-app subscriptions that will be renewed soon, you should receive an email informing you about the price increase and it should give you an option to cancel your subscription. You can find read more about the complete list of pricing updates from this PDF document published by Apple.

Source: MacRumors

Apple App Store gets Shopping category

It has been a bit tough for mobile shopping apps to be spotted on Apple’s App Store because these apps were previously located in the Lifestyle section of the store. Thankfully, Apple is giving them their own space with the new Shopping category—just in time for holiday shopping season. This doesn’t just help reduce a number of apps in the Lifestyle section, it also helps put the spotlight on apps that support Apple Pay, the company’s mobile payments technology. But this section won’t be limited to shopping apps, it also houses apps that will help you find apps that specialize in deals, latest trends, price checks, as well as product reviews.

To celebrate the new section, Apple also launched new featured collections such as “Save While You Shop” for deals and discounts, “Shop for Everything” with a variety of themes like “Chic,” “Rugged,” “Play Dates,” etc.

Source: TechCrunch

Apple briefly pulls hit iOS game 'Monster Strike' for bypassing in-app purchase system

For a short time over the weekend, Apple pulled the Japanese-developed Monster Strike game from its App Store after they found out Mixi, the game's developer, was trying to get around Apple's in-app purchase system. The game was down from 5:30 pm on the Saturday of August 29 and went back up around 1 am on Sunday. It's said the app may have lost around US$600,000 in revenue. 

It was said Apple found a "serial code input form" inside the game that gamers can input into the app to get currency or special items. These can be bought on websites or through referrals. But this bypasses Apple's requirement that you can't sell anything outside of its in-app system, because basically you're cutting them out of profit and the 30 percent revenue they get from all activity within the App Store. The move can be seen as a stern warning from Apple to not bypass its rules. 

Source: Cult of Mac 

Apple now shows editorially-curated lists on App Store

Moving away from algorithmically-generated lists, the Apple App Store now shows editorially-curated content. There is no longer a “New,” “What’s Hot,” and “All iPhone (Free & Paid)” categories for games. What takes its place are curated lists like “Best New Games” and “More Games You Might Like,” which is based on your download/purchase history. This shift seems like a good idea particularly to help app developers that need exposure for apps that truly deserve the attention.

Source: MacRumors